Lady Indians move to the Elite Eight
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
UPPER ARLINGTON — Before the start of their Division III Regional Semifinal match, Hillsboro head coach Leslie Molen told her team in a pre-game huddle to represent their school and play for their town … and the Lady Indians answered that challenge and more.
Hillsboro (16-2-2) is now headed to the Elite Eight in Division II soccer as they defeated the West Holmes Lady Knights, 3-2 Tuesday at Upper Arlington High School in a match that had a little bit of everything.
"This is an accomplishment for the girls to be playing into November," HHS coach Leslie Molen said. "No team in Hillsboro has ever gone this far, and this is a good feeling for the kids. I love they are able to experience this type of success.
"This was a good effort. We overcame their (West Holmes') intensity with intensity of our own, but we need to improve at marking up, which we'll work on this week."
Last season, the Lady Indians lost in the regional semifinal round by a 1-0 score, but they wouldn't be held scoreless this time with HHS being led by junior Trista Rhodes, who tallied a hat-trick with three goals, including leading HHS to a 2-0 halftime advantage.
The first goals eventually came for HHS, but getting to that point took a lot of work by the visiting team on the scoreboard as HHS wore all red in the contest.
Though the offense eventually broke out, it was the HHS defense who did the work in the first 26 minutes of the contest with keeper Rachel Sexton gaining saves and stopping shots at goal by the Lady Knights to keep the scored at zero.
Then it happened: the first goal of the match off the foot of Rhodes, with the junior placing the ball in the back of the net in a one-on-one situation with 13:36 remaining in the opening half with the assist from Madison Colliver. Rhodes placed the ball forcefully in the middle of the goal for the 1-0 advantage.
The match switched back to being more focused on defense with HHS having a big defensive stand near their goal at the 7:39 mark of the first half.
That was followed by Sexton colliding with a couple plays on a goal attempt by West Holmes, but Sexton came out of the pile with possession of the ball with 5:30 left in the opening half.
HHS took a two-goal lead with 11.5 left on the clock as Kaylynn Bell rocketed the ball from the corner of the field to Rhodes, who knocked the ball into the goal on a header, giving the Lady Indians a two-goal advantage at halftime.
In the second half, HHS began with more defense with Taylor Davis making a big stop, keeping the 2-0 advantage.
From there, West Holmes continued to pressure the defense of HHS and finally broke through with their first goal coming at the 37:30 mark from Abigail Callahan, making it a 2-1 score.
After more saves from Sexton and a timely defensive stop by Hope Tira, it was the Lady Knights who added another score around the 19:00 mark of the half as the ball bounced past the diving keeper who was up in the box, and as it went past the defense, the ball rolled slowly into the back of the net, tying the score at 2-2.
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With the score tied at 2-2, Sexton regrouped and proceeded to let nothing past her for the remainder of the match, as she made four saves from the 12:42 mark to the 8:31 mark of the match. The keeper of the Lady Knights also made a big save at the 7:35 mark to keep the score tied at two each.
Sexton finished with 13 total saves, including seven in the first half.
"Rachel made some good stops for us," Molen said. "The times we gave up goals, she was still diving and working hard. I think she really likes this field, and again, our defense was solid, but we need to mark up better."
HHS capitalized on a huge opportunity that eventually sealed the win with West Holmes getting called for a hand ball foul in the box, which is a foul of a penalty kick for the Lady Indians.
With 6:32 left in the regulation portion of the match, Rhodes set up for the penalty kick opportunity, kicking the ball past the keeper of the Lady Knights for the 3-2 advantage and a hat-trick along the way.
"Any time you can get three goals in a postseason game, that is an accomplishment," Molen said.
From there, the defense of HHS stepped up with Rhodes stopping the ball at the 1:40 mark, Davis kicking the ball out of HHS territory at the 1:30 mark and Kaylee Achor putting the ball in West Holmes territory with a few seconds remaining, not allowing the Lady Pirates to get another goal attempt.
Hillsboro will play in their Division II Regional Final match on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Centerville Stadium. HHS will face Granville, a No. 1 seed from the Central District, who defeated Bexley, 4-1 Tuesday in their regional semifinal match.
This postseason, Granville has also defeated Columbus International (14-0), Lakewood (7-1) and Bloom-Carroll (4-1).
Hillsboro (16-2-2) is now headed to the Elite Eight in Division II soccer as they defeated the West Holmes Lady Knights, 3-2 Tuesday at Upper Arlington High School in a match that had a little bit of everything.
"This is an accomplishment for the girls to be playing into November," HHS coach Leslie Molen said. "No team in Hillsboro has ever gone this far, and this is a good feeling for the kids. I love they are able to experience this type of success.
"This was a good effort. We overcame their (West Holmes') intensity with intensity of our own, but we need to improve at marking up, which we'll work on this week."
Last season, the Lady Indians lost in the regional semifinal round by a 1-0 score, but they wouldn't be held scoreless this time with HHS being led by junior Trista Rhodes, who tallied a hat-trick with three goals, including leading HHS to a 2-0 halftime advantage.
The first goals eventually came for HHS, but getting to that point took a lot of work by the visiting team on the scoreboard as HHS wore all red in the contest.
Though the offense eventually broke out, it was the HHS defense who did the work in the first 26 minutes of the contest with keeper Rachel Sexton gaining saves and stopping shots at goal by the Lady Knights to keep the scored at zero.
Then it happened: the first goal of the match off the foot of Rhodes, with the junior placing the ball in the back of the net in a one-on-one situation with 13:36 remaining in the opening half with the assist from Madison Colliver. Rhodes placed the ball forcefully in the middle of the goal for the 1-0 advantage.
The match switched back to being more focused on defense with HHS having a big defensive stand near their goal at the 7:39 mark of the first half.
That was followed by Sexton colliding with a couple plays on a goal attempt by West Holmes, but Sexton came out of the pile with possession of the ball with 5:30 left in the opening half.
HHS took a two-goal lead with 11.5 left on the clock as Kaylynn Bell rocketed the ball from the corner of the field to Rhodes, who knocked the ball into the goal on a header, giving the Lady Indians a two-goal advantage at halftime.
In the second half, HHS began with more defense with Taylor Davis making a big stop, keeping the 2-0 advantage.
From there, West Holmes continued to pressure the defense of HHS and finally broke through with their first goal coming at the 37:30 mark from Abigail Callahan, making it a 2-1 score.
After more saves from Sexton and a timely defensive stop by Hope Tira, it was the Lady Knights who added another score around the 19:00 mark of the half as the ball bounced past the diving keeper who was up in the box, and as it went past the defense, the ball rolled slowly into the back of the net, tying the score at 2-2.
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With the score tied at 2-2, Sexton regrouped and proceeded to let nothing past her for the remainder of the match, as she made four saves from the 12:42 mark to the 8:31 mark of the match. The keeper of the Lady Knights also made a big save at the 7:35 mark to keep the score tied at two each.
Sexton finished with 13 total saves, including seven in the first half.
"Rachel made some good stops for us," Molen said. "The times we gave up goals, she was still diving and working hard. I think she really likes this field, and again, our defense was solid, but we need to mark up better."
HHS capitalized on a huge opportunity that eventually sealed the win with West Holmes getting called for a hand ball foul in the box, which is a foul of a penalty kick for the Lady Indians.
With 6:32 left in the regulation portion of the match, Rhodes set up for the penalty kick opportunity, kicking the ball past the keeper of the Lady Knights for the 3-2 advantage and a hat-trick along the way.
"Any time you can get three goals in a postseason game, that is an accomplishment," Molen said.
From there, the defense of HHS stepped up with Rhodes stopping the ball at the 1:40 mark, Davis kicking the ball out of HHS territory at the 1:30 mark and Kaylee Achor putting the ball in West Holmes territory with a few seconds remaining, not allowing the Lady Pirates to get another goal attempt.
Hillsboro will play in their Division II Regional Final match on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Centerville Stadium. HHS will face Granville, a No. 1 seed from the Central District, who defeated Bexley, 4-1 Tuesday in their regional semifinal match.
This postseason, Granville has also defeated Columbus International (14-0), Lakewood (7-1) and Bloom-Carroll (4-1).